verbEtymology: Latin obsessus, past participle of obsidēre to frequent, besiege, from ob- against + sedēre to sit — more at ob-, sitDate: 1531transitive verb
to haunt or excessively preoccupy the mind of <

was obsessed with the idea

>intransitive verb
to engage in obsessive thinking ; become obsessed with an idea

Look at other dictionaries:

obsess — ob*sess , v. i. To be excessively or persistently preoccupied with something; usually used with on or over; as, to obsess over an imagined insult. [PJC] At all ages children are driven to figure out what it takes to succeed among their peers and… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

obsess — has been used since the 16c as a transitive verb, often in the passive with obsessed as a quasi adjective: • Modern society is obsessed with romanticizing ancient societies Times, 1980. In the later part of the 20c a new intransitive use emerged … Modern English usage

obsess — [[t]əbse̱s[/t]] obsesses, obsessing, obsessed V ERG If something obsesses you or if you obsess about something, you keep thinking about it and find it difficult to think about anything else. [V n] I must admit that maps obsess me... [V n] A… … English dictionary

obsess — verb 1 (transitive usually passive) if something or someone obsesses you, you think about them all the time and you cannot think of anything else: be obsessed with: You ve always been obsessed with making money. | He had become obsessed with… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English